Hadash Chairman Calls Gaza Bombings 'Inhumane,' Cites 'Horrors'

Yousef Jabareen, chairman of the Hadash party and the Joint List, criticized the IDF's actions in Gaza, stating in a podcast that following the October 7th Hamas attacks, "we also saw horrors in those inhumane bombings in Gaza." Jabareen suggested this focus on Gaza is why the discourse within the Arab community has shifted to concentrate on events in the Strip. He made these remarks in response to a question about why Arab public leaders have not explicitly condemned Hamas.

Jabareen asserted that Hadash and the Communist Party issued a statement on October 7th condemning the atrocities and massacre, stating their position was clear. He added that the Follow-up Committee also released statements. However, he claimed these condemnations did not reach the Jewish public because the Arab community's discourse remained focused on the situation in Gaza.

To further explain the Arab community's stance, Jabareen referenced statements by Mohammad Barakeh, former chairman of the Supreme Monitoring Committee, whom he called a "friend." According to Jabareen, Barakeh said that "all the crimes of the occupation do not justify what happened on October 7th," and immediately added, "everything that happened on October 7th cannot justify Israel's crimes in Gaza either."

Jabareen, a native of Umm al-Fahm, previously served as a Knesset member for the Joint List and chaired the Committee for the Rights of the Child. He was elected chairman of Hadash in May 2026, succeeding Ayman Odeh, and leads the Joint List alliance for the upcoming 26th Knesset elections.